A Way Fans Can Help Locate Missing Episodes

Paul Vanezis (of the Doctor Who Restoration Team), Sue Malden (former BBC archivist and member of the TV archivist organization FIAT), and others are looking into the archive holdings in Africa and elsewhere and will hopefully be successful in finding missing episodes of Doctor Who. However, archive searches would not have turned up the print of ‘The Lion’ held by Bruce Grenville or ‘Day of Armageddon’ held by Francis Watson.

I think that one valuable thing that Doctor Who fans could do would be to publicize the missing episodes of Doctor Who and other lost episodes of British TV in key overseas places (as well as alert others to it in the UK) via online postings or other means. Every episode of Doctor Who that has been recovered thus far has been found either in the UK or in a country to which that episode was originally sent in the 1960s or 1970s. We know which overseas locations would be most important.

Of course, fans can try to locate and purchase 16mm prints from overseas, but I for one am not interested in attempting that. However, attempting to publicize which episodes are missing and who to contact at the BBC would be a positive step. The BBC can then deal with people claiming to have lost episodes directly.

On the RT forum, I asked specifically and received permission from Steve Roberts to use the Restoration Team email address as a contact for lost material.

Online posting on overseas forum websites is (generally) free and could serve to get the word out more widely. This is a needle-in-a-haystack strategy, but with enough fans posting to enough websites globally, there could be a success. It would also be an effort separate from checking the archives.

After this posting, I will post first a message to a general audience (in the UK or worldwide) plus messages tailored specifically to each country in particular. The top of the message is a short version that would suffice. The bottom of each message is an optional list of all the missing episodes specifically associated with that geographical location.

Please help to spread the word via posting to discussion forums or via email worldwide.

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

From the story The Myth Makers (episode 1) Temple of Secrets (episode 2) Small Prophet Quick Return (episode 3) Death of a Spy (episode 4) Horse of Destruction

The Dalek Masterplan (sent to Australia but never broadcast) (episode 1) The Nightmare Begins (episode 3) Devil’s Planet, (episode 4) The Traitors (episode 6) Coronas of the Sun (episode Volcano (episode 9) Golden Death (episode 11) The Abandoned Planet (episode 12) Destruction of Time (episode 7: The Feast of Steven is also missing but was not sent to Australia)

From the story The Massacre (episode 1) War of God (episode 2) The Sea Beggar (episode 3) Priest of Death (episode 4) Bell of Doom

From the story The Celestial Toymaker (episode 1) The Celestial Toyroom (episode 2) The Hall of Dolls (episode 3) The Dancing Floor

From the story The Savages Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

From the story The Smugglers Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

The Tenth Planet Part 4

The Power of the Daleks Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

From the story The Highlanders Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

From the story The Underwater Menace Part 1 Part 2 Part 4

From the story The Moonbase Part 1 Part 3

From the story The Macra Terror Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

From the story The Faceless Ones Part 2 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 (In addition, the surviving print of Part 3 is damaged)

The Evil of the Daleks Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

From the story The Abominable Snowmen Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

From the story The Ice Warriors Part 2 Part 3

From the story The Enemy of the World Part 1 Part 2 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

From the story The Myth Makers – Purchased 01/73 (Sent from New Zealand 09/72)(episode 1) Temple of Secrets(episode 2) Small Prophet Quick Return(episode 3) Death of a Spy(episode 4) Horse of Destruction

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

LIST OF MISSING EPISODES SENT TO NEW ZEALAND(Note: The 39 episodes marked with an asterisk are the most likely candidates to perhaps still be in the country, since the others were officially logged as destroyed or sent away.)

From the story Marco Polo (A.K.A. (Doctor Who and) A Journey to Cathay)(episode 1) The Roof of the World(episode 2) The Singing Sands*(episode 3) Five Hundred Eyes *(episode 4) The Wall of Lies *(episode 5) Rider from Shang-Tu *(episode 6) Mighty Kublai Khan *(episode 7) Assassin at Peking

(The reused film can from Assassin at Peking was found in Wellington in 1990.)

From the story The Reign of Terror(episode 4) The Tyrant of France(episode 5) A Bargain of Necessity

From the story ‘The Crusade’ *(episode 2) The Knight of Jaffa *(episode 4) The War-Lords

From the story Galaxy 4(episode 1) Four Hundred Dawns(episode 2) Trap of Steel(episode 3) Airlock(episode 4) The Exploding Planet

From the story The Myth Makers(episode 1) Temple of Secrets(episode 2) Small Prophet Quick Return(episode 3) Death of a Spy(episode 4) Horse of Destruction

From the story The Massacre(episode 1) War of God(episode 2) The Sea Beggar(episode 3) Priest of Death(episode 4) Bell of Doom

From the story The Celestial Toymaker(episode 1) The Celestial Toyroom(episode 2) The Hall of Dolls(episode 3) The Dancing Floor

From the story The SavagesPart 1Part 2Part 3Part 4

From the story The SmugglersPart 1Part 2Part 3Part 4

The Tenth PlanetPart 4

The Power of the DaleksPart 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6

From the story The HighlandersPart 1Part 2Part 3Part 4

From the story ‘The Underwater Menace’*Part 1*Part 2*Part 4

From the story ‘The Moonbase’ *Part 1*Part 3

(The reused film can from ‘The Moonbase’ Part 3 was found in Wellington in 1990.)

From the story The Macra TerrorPart 1Part 2Part 3Part 4

(One eyewitness states that two episodes of ‘The Macra Terror’ were shown at a school in Masterton in the late 1970s, which would indicate that at least two episodes were not destroyed.)

From the story The Faceless OnesPart 2Part 4Part 5Part 6(In addition, the surviving print of Part 3 is damaged)

The BBC is searching for lost episodes of classic television shows, including Doctor Who. Currently 108 episodes of Doctor Who are missing from the BBC archives. At least 77 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Africa in the early 1970s as 16mm film recordings.

At least 73 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Zambia specifically.

You can see the full list of missing episodes of Doctor Who (as well as missing episodes from other British TV shows such as Hancock’s Half Hour, A for Andromeda, etc.) at:

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

The BBC is searching for lost episodes of classic television shows, including Doctor Who. Currently 108 episodes of Doctor Who are missing from the BBC archives. At least 77 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Africa in the early 1970s as 16mm film recordings.

At least 30 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Nigeria specifically.

You can see the full list of missing episodes of Doctor Who (as well as missing episodes from other British TV shows such as Hancock’s Half Hour, A for Andromeda, etc.) at:

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

The BBC is searching for lost episodes of classic television shows, including Doctor Who. Currently 108 episodes of Doctor Who are missing from the BBC archives. At least 77 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Africa in the early 1970s as 16mm film recordings.

At least 26 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Uganda specifically.

You can see the full list of missing episodes of Doctor Who (as well as missing episodes from other British TV shows such as Hancock’s Half Hour, A for Andromeda, etc.) at:

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

The BBC is searching for lost episodes of classic television shows, including Doctor Who. Currently 108 episodes of Doctor Who are missing from the BBC archives. At least 77 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Africa in the early 1970s as 16mm film recordings.

At least 25 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Sierra Leone specifically.

You can see the full list of missing episodes of Doctor Who (as well as missing episodes from other British TV shows such as Hancock’s Half Hour, A for Andromeda, etc.) at:

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

LIST OF MISSING EPISODES SENT TO SIERRA LEONEFrom the story The Crusade (sent in 1967)(episode 2) The Knight of Jaffa (episode 4) The War-Lords (In addition, the surviving print of episode 1 The Lion is damaged)

The rest were sent sometime after August, 1970…

From the story Galaxy 4(episode 1) Four Hundred Dawns(episode 2) Trap of Steel(episode 3) Airlock(episode 4) The Exploding Planet

From the story The Myth Makers(episode 1) Temple of Secrets(episode 2) Small Prophet Quick Return(episode 3) Death of a Spy(episode 4) Horse of Destruction

From the story The Massacre(episode 1) War of God(episode 2) The Sea Beggar(episode 3) Priest of Death(episode 4) Bell of Doom

From the story The Celestial Toymaker(episode 1) The Celestial Toyroom(episode 2) The Hall of Dolls(episode 3) The Dancing Floor

The BBC is searching for lost episodes of classic television shows, including Doctor Who. Currently 108 episodes of Doctor Who are missing from the BBC archives. At least 77 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Africa in the early 1970s as 16mm film recordings.

At least 11 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Ethiopia specifically.

You can see the full list of missing episodes of Doctor Who (as well as missing episodes from other British TV shows such as Hancock’s Half Hour, A for Andromeda, etc.) at:

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

The BBC is searching for lost episodes of classic television shows, including Doctor Who. Currently 108 episodes of Doctor Who are missing from the BBC archives. At least 77 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Africa in the early 1970s as 16mm film recordings.

At least 7 of the 108 missing episodes were sent to Canada specifically.

You can see the full list of missing episodes of Doctor Who (as well as missing episodes from other British TV shows such as Hancock’s Half Hour, A for Andromeda, etc.) at:

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

I also posted to the RT Forum asking about places where color Pertwee episodes now held only in monochrome might have been broadcast overseas.

The best place to find color copies of most of the episodes in question seems to be the USA and Canada, perhaps via off-air videotaped recordings.

As far as North America goes, given input from Richard Molesworth and others, it seems that Ambassadors of Death and Mind of Evil were broadcast then at least from the following six stations in North America:

'AoD' was broadcast in Buffalo in 1977 and recorded, but with interference.'MoE' was perhaps broadcast in Chicago in 1979.CKVU started broadcasting on Sep. 1, 1976, so its broadcasts of color Pertwee must have been after this time, though CKVU may not have shown 'Ambassadors'Boston might have been broadcasting these the earliest (c. 1972).Los Angeles broadcasts were c. 1976.

Betamax was introduced in 1975 and VHS in 1976. It is possible that off-air color recordings from American or Canadian broadcasts exist.

I have created similar needle-in-a-haystack sort of postings for these color Pertwees, which I will post below. Does anyone have any additional info or details about these early broadcasts of Pertwee episodes in North America?

The BBC is searching for color copies of 13 episodes of the series Doctor Who. Though filmed in color, these episodes today exist in the archives only as black-and-white prints. Color footage is sought to restore these episodes for release on DVD.

In the late 1970s, as many as 11 of the 13 episodes were broadcast in color on WTTW Chicago (Ch. 11). The episodes come from the stories ‘The Ambassadors of Death’ and ‘The Mind of Evil.’

If you have a videotape of these episodes in color or have any information about color copies of these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

The BBC is searching for color copies of 13 episodes of the series Doctor Who. Though filmed in color, these episodes today exist in the archives only as black-and-white prints. Color footage is sought to restore these episodes for release on DVD.

In the 1970s, as many as 11 of the 13 episodes were broadcast in color on WGBH Boston (Ch. 2 / Ch. 44). The episodes come from the stories ‘The Ambassadors of Death’ and ‘The Mind of Evil.’

If you have a videotape of these episodes in color or have any information about color copies of these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

The BBC is searching for color copies of 13 episodes of the series Doctor Who. Though filmed in color, these episodes today exist in the archives only as black-and-white prints. Color footage is sought to restore these episodes for release on DVD.

In the 1970s, 11 of the 13 episodes were broadcast in color on WNED Buffalo (Ch. 17). The episodes come from the stories ‘The Ambassadors of Death’ and ‘The Mind of Evil.’

In fact, Buffalo-area recordings of some of these episodes have been recovered already, but these suffer in part from broadcast interference, making them problematic for use in DVD restoration.

If you have a videotape of these episodes in color or have any information about color copies of these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

The BBC is searching for color copies of 13 episodes of the series Doctor Who. Though filmed in color, these episodes today exist in the archives only as black-and-white prints. Color footage is sought to restore these episodes for release on DVD.

In the late 1970s, as many as 11 of the 13 episodes were broadcast in color in Vancouver on CKVU (Ch. 21). The episodes come from the stories ‘The Ambassadors of Death’ and ‘The Mind of Evil.’

If you have a videotape of these episodes in color or have any information about color copies of these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

The BBC is searching for color copies of 13 episodes of the series Doctor Who. Though filmed in color, these episodes today exist in the archives only as black-and-white prints. Color footage is sought to restore these episodes for release on DVD.

In the 1970s, as many as 11 of the 13 episodes were broadcast in color in Los Angeles on KCET (Ch. 28). The episodes come from the stories ‘The Ambassadors of Death’ and ‘The Mind of Evil.’

The episodes would probably have aired weekly on Tuesday or Wednesday nights at 7:30 or perhaps Saturday afternoons at 1:00.

If you have a videotape of these episodes in color or have any information about color copies of these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

The BBC is searching for color copies of 13 episodes of the series Doctor Who. Though filmed in color, these episodes today exist in the archives only as black-and-white prints. Color footage is sought to restore these episodes for release on DVD.

In the late 1970s, as many as 11 of the 13 episodes were broadcast in color on WHYY Philadelphia (Ch. 12). The episodes come from the stories ‘The Ambassadors of Death’ and ‘The Mind of Evil.’

If you have a videotape of these episodes in color or have any information about color copies of these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

The BBC is searching for color copies of 13 episodes of the series Doctor Who. Though filmed in color, these episodes today exist in the archives only as black-and-white prints. Color footage is sought to restore these episodes for release on DVD.

The episodes come from the following stories:

The Ambassadors of DeathThe Mind of EvilPlanet of the DaleksInvasion of the Dinosaurs (Onscreen title for episode 1: 'Invasion')

If you have a videotape of these episodes in color or have any information about color copies of these episodes, please contact the BBC by sending an email to:

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC at the above email.

Here would be one that would work well for the videotape trading community worldwide...

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The BBC is searching for color copies of 13 episodes of the series Doctor Who. Though filmed in color, these episodes today exist in the archives only as black-and-white prints. Color footage is sought to restore these episodes for release on DVD.

In the 1970s, as many as 11 of the 13 episodes were broadcast in color on the following stations:

If you think you may have a missing episode as a 16mm print or a copy in another format (8mm off-air or videotape), or have any information about these episodes, please contact the BBC at the above email.

This isn't even my posting! Someone else has written a query like the ones I have posted.

This is the kind of random effect that we can get with the internet. I think this strategy could work, even though the chances remain slim. It's better than nothing, just takes a moment or two to post, and is free. Why not?

Let us examine the sorts of people that have held audiovisual materials of interest in the past and who have surfaced:

1. Archives in the UK and in foreign nations -- This avenue should be left to the BBC to explore (to find more like Tomb of the Cybermen, etc.).

2. Former TV station employees -- Like Francis Watson (DMP: 2).

3. 16mm film collectors -- Like Bruce Grenville (Crusade: 1).

4. People who did early videotaping -- Like Tom Lundy (Flawed U-Matic color recordings of Ambassadors) and 'the boffin' (redundant copy of Space Pirates: 2).

5. People who filmed the TV screen with 8mm -- Like the Australian fan who gave us a view of the Hartnell/Troughton regeneration

6. People in specific geographical areas (the general population) -- This is the broadest category. These are just the public at large in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and other places where monochrone Doctor Who was shown overseas, and in the USA where color Pertwee was shown in the late 1970s. (Also, Africa, where Hartnell and Troughton were shown much later than in the UK, has not been sufficiently explored in my opinion.)

In summary, we can aim messages at former TV station employees as well as 16mm, 8mm, and videotape collectors in the UK, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Africa for monochrome episodes and in the UK and specific cities in North America for color episodes. Messages to the general public at large in these geographical regions would also be useful since the general public may know of former TV station employees or collectors of 16mm, 8mm, or videotapes in these same geographical areas. Another indirect possibility is that a TV archive employee or someone who knows a TV archive employee might see a posting and prompt an unofficial check of the archives (or at least put the information in the mind of the archive employee for later). Lastly, with a moderate amount of postings out there on the web, a person from the 'target audience' may view such a posting at random while searching Google for something else entirely. Thus, a certain volume of postings here and there and everywhere would be useful.

The most useful thing that Doctor Who fans could do (in my opinion) to help with the missing episode situation is to publicize it in various easy, direct, and free/inexpensive ways. The information needs to get out beyond Doctor Who fandom.

I have a coworker from Nigeria. I told him about the missing episode situation. He told me that his best friend in Nigeria happens to work in the TV industry and that he will talk to him when he again visits Nigeria. This sort of thing could produce results.